BOV announces mental health grant

The College of William and Mary received a 3-year $235,000 grant from SAMHSA for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention yesterday, Nov. 29. Following the announcement of the grant, the Board of Visitors Student Affairs Committee discussed the importance of mental health on campus.

“Overall, we want to make sure that we do everything we can to reduce the stigma around students seeking help for mental health concerns and to

empower everyone in the William and Mary community to know that they can step in and make the difference,” Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 Ph.D.’06 said.

Ambler also introduced the Business “Boot Camp,” which is to take place in mid to late May of next year. The initiative will provide non-business majors with a foundation in business concepts and aims to boost their confidence before entering the business world.

The committee also discussed the future of the units. The residence halls have entered the third year of refurbishing and will serve as freshman housing for the 2013-14 academic year. Among other changes, the buildings will be re-named. In October, Residence Life emailed a survey to students that allowed them to suggest potential names. According to Ambler, a majority of suggestions involve history, alumni, video games, literature, Tribe Pride and College President Taylor Reveley.

Ambler then introduced the Hazing Prevention Coalition. She described the school’s approach toward hazing as very proactive and revealed the coalition’s new power message: “My Tribe, My Responsibility. A Home Without Hazing.” The program will be presented in more depth at the February committee meeting.

“Our belief is that hazing does not have to be fatal to damage a campus community, and it can be very devastating to individuals,” Ambler said.

Jodi Fisler, assistant to the vice president and director of Student Affairs Planning and Assessment, spoke about the progress of the Sherman and Gloria H. Cohen Career Center in attracting students to take advantage of its resources. She also discussed leadership development at the College.

Two student liaisons, Drew Chlan ’13 and Kylee Ponder ’12, closed the meeting by discussing events that have impacted student life or are expected to do so. Discussion included the EVMS public forum, the three-person versus four-person rule, holiday events including Grand Illumination and the Yule Log Ceremony, and the prospective TEDx conference to take place March 30.